Like owners of a vaccine in a time of virus, Florida’s public and private universities and colleges see gold in cyber-security — ranging from spinoffs hatched from university research, alumni who grow rich as CEOs of cyber-security firms, and millions of dollars in government and private research grants.

A plethora of threats has begat an abundance of new cyber-security programs and spending around the nation. The education establishment across the country has argued Higher-Ed and Cyber-Security No Shortage of Players By Mike Vogel that only a few states will emerge as leaders in the field, and states had better hurry along in building programs. Florida is no exception. State colleges including Daytona Beach, Eastern Florida and Palm Beach have added classes and programs.

Most of the State University System institutions are building cyber-security faculty and research — from Florida International in Miami to the University of West Florida in Pensacola.

â-º USF: The University of South Florida in Tampa houses the Legislature-designated Florida Center for Cybersecurity.

â-º FAU: Florida Atlantic University has a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance/Cyber Defense Research.

â-º UF: The University of Florida, focusing on becoming the pre-eminent cybersecurity research institution in the state, has hired seven new faculty with expertise in cyber-security and plans to hire an eighth expert in biomedical device security, says engineering dean Cammy Abernathy. Last year, it hired Mark Tehranipoor, from the University of Connecticut, as its Intel-sponsored chair in cyber-security. Tehranipoor founded two centers devoted to cyber-security at Connecticut and brought in millions of research dollars.

â-º UCF: The University of Central Florida’s team won its second consecutive National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition.

â-º Poly Tech: Young Florida Polytechnic in Lakeland counts cyber-security as one of its key concentrations — a fifth of the university’s students — and plans to hire six to eight more faculty to teach in it and the larger computer science field.

Private schools aren’t sitting the trend out ...

â-º FIT: Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne is an acknowledged leader, with several spinoff companies and the Harris Institute for Assured Information.

â-º Embry-Riddle University: The Daytona Beach university has a cybersecurity- oriented bachelor’s.

â-º St. Thomas University: The Miami school in late 2014 created an endowed chair in cyber-security.

â-º NSU: Nova Southeastern University has a Center for Information Protection, Education and Research.

â-º St. Leo University: The Pasco County school has joined the Global Academic Program of the ISC, the largest non-profit group that sets standards for certifications in cyber and computer infrastructure security.